A director at the Morristown based Jersey Battered Women’s Services is one of three women nominated for the New Jersey Heroes Poll.

To mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month, first lady Mary Pat Christie and the New Jersey Heroes Foundation are recognizing three deserving individuals as nominees for the October online poll, according to a press release from Gov. Chris Christie’s office.

Cathy Stephens, director of client services of Jersey Battered Women’s Services in Morristown, is nominated along with Mary Houtsma, founding director of the Essex County Family Justice Center in Newark, and Sandra Ramos, founder and executive director of Strengthen our Sisters in Wanaque.

“Mary, Sandra and Cathy are providing critical services and support measures that are helping abuse victims overcome the tragedy of domestic violence while providing the tools required to heal and help rebuild their lives,” Mary Pat Christie said. “Each of these women is a true hero in their own right and I would be proud to have any one of them as our next New Jersey Hero.”

Now through 10 a.m. on Friday, people have an opportunity to choose the October New Jersey Hero by visiting http://newjerseyheroes.org/index/poll/ to vote.

This is the fifth New Jersey Hero being determined by the public via an online poll posted to the New Jersey Heroes website. Voters can cast their ballots once per day until the poll ends. The October New Jersey Hero will be announced later that afternoon.

As the JBWS director of client services, Stephens is intimately involved in all of its services, from hotline and shelter to counseling, legal advocacy and children’s programming. She designed and opened JBWS’ nationally recognized transitional housing center, and more recently, has been planning and preparing for the opening of Morris’ Family Justice Center in March 2016, the release said.

Houtsma is a certified social worker and domestic violence specialist who has worked in the domestic violence field in New Jersey for the last 25 years. She is the founding executive director of New Jersey’s first Family Justice Center, located in downtown Newark, where the diverse needs of victims can be better met by bringing government and non-government agencies together in one location, the release said.

Ramos founded Strengthen Our Sisters, a non-profit that runs a licensed shelter with 7 locations housing 177 women and children, a thrift store, 2 daycare centers and a car-donation program, along with a community food pantry. Ramos has been instrumental in helping more than 30,000 women who were caught in the cycle of domestic violence, the release said.

In New Jersey, there were 64,556 domestic violence offenses reported by the police in 2013, a 1 percent decrease compared to the 65,060 reported in 2012, according to a 2013 report on domestic violence prepared by the New Jersey State Police.

Wives were the victims in 16 percent (10,158) and ex-wives were the victims in 3 percent (2,167) of the reported domestic violence offenses in 2013. Overall, females were victims in 75 percent (48,305) of all domestic violence offenses. Additionally, children were involved or present during 30 percent of all domestic violence offenses occurring in 2013.

New Jersey Heroes is an initiative First Lady Mary Pat Christie began in 2010 to showcase the positive and unique ways people and organizations are impacting New Jersey and their communities.